Category: News

  • How the Turkish Government Cancels The Passports of Critics

    How the Turkish Government Cancels The Passports of Critics

    Huff POST da Turkiye vatandaslarinin Pasaportlarini iptal ediyormus bu isi de Polis Isthibarat ile MIT yapiyormus diye kocaman bir makale yazmislar…3-4 kisi ye de misal olark kotmuslar Turk gazetelerinde hicbir haber yok
    Umit Bayulken
    Aydoğan Vatandaş
    Aydoğan Vatandaş Journalist, writer and politic

    Imagine that you have enough money and a passport to travel abroad. You may be a businessman to follow your meetings or just a tourist hoping to practice new things during your trip in another country.

    If you are a Turkish citizen, you should think twice.

    It is not a secret that after Erdogan consolidated his power, Turkey has already turned into a dictatorship.

    The sources now reveal that Turkish Government has started another unlawful activity against his citizens. The Turkish Government cancels the passports of some journalists, businessmen and NGO representatives through some fabricated applications.

    The first step of this conspiracy engineered by the Turkish Government is to fabricate ‘a loss notice’ in a newspaper on behalf of the targeted individual. Once the loss notice appears in a paper, the Government cancels the passport. The people find out this illegal cancelation only when they are about to go abroad at the airport venue. The police seize their passports and don’t let them go out. But it may also happen when you are out of Turkey. Many people who are already out of Turkey face similar difficulties during the security check at the Customs. They are told that their passports are seen ‘lost’ in their system and advised to visit their Embassies or Consulates to solve the problem. However, when the people go to their Embassies, their passports are being seized without any explanation.

    Some aggrieved has already started legal term by means of their counselors. Those who face this conspiracy while they are abroad apply to Interpol and inform that their passports are not lost.

    According to the claims, hundreds of Turkish businessmen, journalists, teachers, and bureaucrats were recorded by a team established by Police Intelligence Department and the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Information about the names on the list prepared by these organizations are sent to the Passport Department. And the Passport units cancel the passports of the persons, whose names appear on the list.

    The illegal practice was revealed when S. A., a person involved in business in Ankara applied to Ankara Directorate of Security, in order to extend the validity of his passport. The businessman went to the Passport department last month. He stated that he wants to extend the validity of his visa, because he wants to go abroad. But the personnel at the passport department told him that his passport was cancelled through a ‘loss’ notice, and that he might find the detailed information at Police Passport Department. Thereupon the businessman went to the Passport Department’s campus in Ankara, he repeated again that he didn’t issue such any loss notice for his passport. The officials rejected to provide any detailed information.

    A teacher working abroad also faced a similar problem. The teacher who went to the airport to go back to the country he worked after his vacation in Turkey found out at that his passport was cancelled at the passage. Even though the teacher never issued such a loss notice for his passport, the justification was the same.

    The last aggrieved of the passport conspiracy was Mrs. Nevin İpek, the wife of Mr. Akın İpek, the President of Koza İpek Holding which was taken over by President Erdogan last year. İpek applied to Embassy of Turkey in London last week, to extend the validity of her passport. The Embassy officials seized İpek’s passport, stating that there is a ‘loss notice’ for her passport. İpek told them that she never issued any loss notice on a newspaper in or abroad. Yet, she could not persuade the Embassy officials.

    Mr. Nazif Apak, a columnist for Turkish Yeni Hayat Daily, who first drew attention on the passport conspiracy of the Turkish Government in his article titled ‘Who plays with the passport?’ on April 23, wrote that a businessman, whose family has done trade for three generations faced a similar incident, too. He wrote that, when the businessman reacted ‘How come! I came to your land with this passport and want to go to that country from here,’ then the officials said that his passport is seen ‘lost’ in their system. When the businessman carries the case to Interpol, the respond was this: ‘Unfortunately Turkey is forging on the documents and declares passports of many people lost,’ Apak wrote.

    Issuing a loss notice is under the authority of only the bearers of passports and ID cards. Even should a loss notice be issued, when the passport is found later, it is legally valid and the police officials are not appointed or authorized to follow the loss notices.

    As long as there exists no ban to travel abroad forwarded to a person by the Court, one may travel to anywhere. This is a universal right and under the protection of freedom of travel. The passports of persons may not become invalid due to loss notices, and detention of people from going abroad by such means is a Government fraud and only happens in a dictatorship.

    al analyst

     

  • Enough is enough – the medal will be returned

    Enough is enough – the medal will be returned

    Over a decade ago the then foreign minister Abdullah Gül awarded me the “Medal of High Distinction” of the Republic of Turkey. I received the award, consisting of a diploma and a gigantic gold medal, during a festive ceremony at the Turkish embassy in The Hague. The reason I was deemed worthy of the medal was that in the preceding years I had actively tried to inform the Dutch politicians, and the public in general, about Turkey and to combat prejudices.

    By Erik-Jan Zürcher

    In the years 2002-2004 the attempts of Turkey to become a member of the European Union, which even then were forty years old, had picked up speed. The new Turkish government of the Party of Justice and Development of prime minister Tayyip Erdoğan, was democratising Turkey at breakneck speed. In the first two years of the new regime over three hundred laws were passed, the vast majority of which aimed to dismantle the authoritarian state that was a legacy of the 1980 military coup and that was still dominated by the army. In recognition of this, the EU in October 2003 agreed to start membership negotiations with Turkey as soon as some final requirements had been met. In December 2004, during a summit in The Hague, the decision to go ahead was taken.

    My small contribution in those years was to argue (in a report for the Scientific Council for Government Policy WRR among others) that Turkey could indeed be a part of the EU, because it shared a history with Europe (after all the centre of gravity of the Ottoman Empire had lain in southeastern Europe for centuries); and that the fact that 98 percent of the citizens of Turkey were Muslims should not stand in the way of Turkey’s entry, because Islam too was part of European history and because after eighty years secularism had struck deep roots in Turkey, at least as deep as in – for instance – a country like Poland. I advocated Turkey’s entry into the EU because I thought that Europe could effectively defend its interests in the Middle East and the Caucasus region only with Turkey on board.

    These arguments are still valid today. What I got completely wrong was my expectation – and prediction – that the accession process would strengthen the democratic forces in Turkey and that it would make the development of the rule of law irrevocable. I ignored warnings from secularist Turkish friends that Erdoğan was only using the EU and the accession process to destroy his internal enemies and gradually to increase the role of Islam in society, seeing them as short-sighted fear mongering. I was wrong, however, and they were right.

    Look where we are now after 14 years and more than ten election victories for Tayyip Erdoğan and his party:
    – Because he thought it would win him the election, Erdoğan consciously wrecked the peace process with Kurds and reignited the internal war against the PKK.
    – Because he wanted new elections when those of June 2015 did not yield the result he looked for, he sabotaged the formation of a coalition government, which could have counteracted polarisation.
    – Academics who distanced themselves from the renewed war against the PKK and demanded a resumption of the peace process, are being persecuted and sometimes have been fired by their universities.
    – The media have been emasculated . They either function as mouthpiece of the regime or adopt self-censorship.
    – Social media are tightly controlled and often shut down.
    – Journalists and editors who report on secret arms deliveries of the Turkish secret service to Syrian Jihadists are convicted to five years in prison for divulging state secrets (so the story was true!)
    – The constitutional court of the republic is threatened by the president, who openly states he does not respect it.
    – A prime minster who advocates a somewhat softer (though by no means liberal) line is brought down by the president.
    – Thousands of Turkish citizens are being prosecuted for “defamation of the president.”
    – European citizens who speak critically about Erdoğan, like Dutch publicist Ebru Umar, are prosecuted and held in Turkey.
    – In the mean time the party uses its power monopoly to make islamic norms and values ever more dominant in the public space – in most places finding a prayer room is now a lot easier than a seller of alcoholic beverages.

    All of this has convinced me that the Turkey of Tayyip Erdoğan cannot and should not become a member of the European Union – ever. A country where politics, the legal system, the media, universities and individuals (even if they live in Europe) have become playthings for a de-facto dictator and his clique of sycophants; where the fundamental freedoms and the rule of law have ceased to function, cannot be a European country. Many of these characteristics are valid for Hungary as well – an EU member – but Hungary is small and for the EU as a whole no more than a nuisance. Turkey’s population is eight times as large and – this is crucial – half of that population staunchly supports the policies of Erdoğan and even more: venerates him as the architect and symbol of the “new Turkey.” A Europe in which the successive crises surrounding the Euro, Greece and the Syrian refugees have shown that it is only partially built on shared values as it is, could never tame this Turkey once it is in, it would be destroyed by its accession.

    Of course the EU, and the Netherlands, have to deal with Turkey. We are not alone in this world and the part of the world that respects human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, is unfortunately limited and getting smaller. We do business – economically as well as politically – with other countries that are increasingly in the grip of nationalist dictators (China, Russia, Egypt) but the point is that, thanks to Erdoğan, Turkey now fits into that list and not the list of candidate members of the EU.

    That is why the medal will now be carefully packed and sent back to the embassy. I have hesitated for a long time, not because I had illusions left about Erdoğan and his ilk, but because such a demonstrative act might damage others besides myself, notably the dozens of MA and Ph.D. students that I have supervised over the years, many of whom have returned to Turkey. My signature is on their diplomas. I feel I have no choice, however. I have to do this precisely because, as professor of Turkish studies, I am seen as an authority on Turkey. I have to do it as a sign of protest against the dictatorial misrule of Erdoğan in Turkey but also in recognition of the fact that I was wrong twelve years ago: Turkey has not come closer to Europe (as it seemed in the now far-off years of 2002-2006, but since 2007 it has moved away. So far away that membership is no longer a realistic option. Our political leaders should say so loud and clear. Enough is enough.

    • middle eastern studies
    • turkish history
    • turkish studies
  • Turkey Historian returns Medal of High Distinction due to “dictatorial” rule

    Turkey Historian returns Medal of High Distinction due to “dictatorial” rule

    May 10, 2016, 11:47

     

    Famous Dutch Turkologist Erik-Jan Zürcher has returned his Medal of High Distinction to Turkey in a protest against the “dictatorial” rule of President Erdoğan.

    World renowned Turkey historian, Dutch Erik-Jan Zürcher, decided to return his Turkish “Medal of High Distinction” presented to him by then Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül because of the “dictatorial” rule in Turkey.

    On Tuesday (May 10), the professor from Leiden University published an article on nrc.nl explaining why he wanted to send his medal back. Zürcher said he was awarded the medal in 2005 thanks to his contribution to Turkey’s European Union (EU) bid. He argued that Turkey has a shared history with Europe, and Turkey’s Muslim majority should not be an obstacle to accession as Islam is a part of Europe, and Turkey has been a secular country for almost a century. He also said it was beneficial for Europe as it could defend its interests in Middle East and Caucasia.

    In his article, Zürcher said “these arguments are still valid”, but then he admits he was wrong about Recep Tayipp Erdoğan and his intentions. Erdoğan’s party, Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), came to power in 2002 with a majority government and EU reforms were accelerated in the first few years, which gave many Europeans the idea of admitting Turkey to the club.

    He said his disappointments with Erdogan’s administration came from the following issues: the ending of the peace process with Kurds, “sabotaging” the possibility of a coalition government after June 7, 2105 election, persecuting the academics for peace petition, suppression and censorship of the media and social media, “threatening” the constitutional court and not respecting it, the taking down of a “softer” Prime Minister (meaning Ahmet Davutoğlu), too many defamation of the president charges, persecuting Europeans who are critical of Erdogan, and using their influence to dominate Islamic norms and values in public spaces.

    He continued, “All of these convinced me that the Turkey of Tayyip Erdoğan cannot and should not become a member of the European Union – ever. A country where politics, the legal system, the media, universities and individuals (even if they live in Europe) have become playthings for a de facto dictator and his clique of sycophants; where the fundamental freedoms and the rule of law have ceased to function, cannot be a European country”.

    He said this is why he is giving his medal back, as a “sign of protest against the dictatorial misrule of Erdoğan,” admitting he had been wrong 12 years ago when he supported ERdoğan. Zürcher also warned European leaders not to consider Turkey’s EU membership, saying they need to say “enough is enough”.

  • Turkish Denialist Helps Publicize  Truth about the Armenian Genocide

    Turkish Denialist Helps Publicize Truth about the Armenian Genocide

    Ergun Kirlikovali, a resident of Orange County, California, and former president of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, has carried out a life-long Don Quixotic battle against recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Unfortunately for him, the more he denies the Genocide, the more he helps publicize it.

    Here is the latest episode of Kirli’s ‘heroic’ actions which once again backfired on him and his obsessive denialism.

    On April 24, as 60,000 protestors gathered in front of the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles, Kirli showed up with a handful of his denialist compatriots trying to cover up the tarnished image of their homeland! The Turks’ presence at the protest attracted the attention of the local news media, generating more publicity for the 101st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

    To take credit for his anti-Armenian protest, Kirli had a cohort videotape his interview with KABC-TV, during which he once again denied the Armenian Genocide. Shockingly, in the midst of the interview, the KABC cameraman made derogatory remarks about Armenians, calling them “thug-like idiots.”

     

    In its news coverage of the April 24 protest, KABC used a sound bite from Kirli’s 8-minute rant. However, no one would have known about the cameraman’s prejudicial comments, if it were not for Kirli posting the raw footage of his interview on Facebook, which got the anti-Armenian cameraman in hot water.

     

    In response to complaints from the public, KABC promptly issued a statement apologizing for its freelance cameraman’s remarks and announcing the termination of his services with the TV station. However, KABC insisted that its story was “fair and accurate.” Many viewers disagreed, citing the inclusion of Kirli’s denialist views in the broadcast. In a phone conversation with KABC’s General Manager last week, I discussed the pitfalls of providing airtime to a denialist and the positive steps the TV station could initiate to educate viewers about the Armenian Genocide. Upset by the station’s conciliatory statement, Kirli posted on Facebook his “disappointment” with KABC’s apology and dismissal of the cameraman after complaints from “Armenian pressure groups.”

     

    The Armenian National Committee of America — Western Region (ANCA) and Armenian Youth Federation — Western US (AYF) issued a joint statement contesting KABC’s decision to provide a platform to a notorious genocide denier and asked for a meeting with the TV station’s management. They justifiably contended that KABC would never interview a neo-Nazi while covering a Holocaust commemorative event.

     

    Subsequently, KABC’s management agreed to meet with representatives of ANCA, AYF, and the Armenian Bar Association, and removed from the TV station’s website Kirli’s offensive words along with the questionable news story! After the meeting, Cheryl Kunin Fair, President and General Manager of KABC-TV, issued the following highly principled statement on May 2:

     

    “ABC7 regrets what happened and apologizes for the pain this incident caused the Armenian community, especially on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. The actions of the cameraman in question, who no longer works for the station, and the resulting story that aired that day, were not an accurate reflection of ABC7′ s commitment to the Armenian community. While the cameraman’s comments did not air, we regret the inclusion in our story of a short bite from the interview denying the existence of the Genocide on historical grounds, which is counter to the position of a majority of historians today who do call it a Genocide, and see the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians as a premeditated and systematic campaign to exterminate an entire people. Efforts are underway in partnership with the ANCA, AYF, Armenian Bar Association and others to provide opportunities for public dialogue, internal education, and meaningful stories about and for the Armenian community and their efforts for Genocide recognition and education. We are committed to moving forward with these initiatives and we thank the ANCA and its partner organizations for their leadership in this dialogue and willingness to listen.”

     

    KABC-TV should be commended for issuing such a reassuring statement, apologizing for the offense caused to the Armenian community, promising not to use the services of the bigoted cameraman, expressing regret for interviewing a genocide denialist, reaffirming the truth of the Armenian Genocide, and pledging to work with community organizations to educate the public on this critical issue. Without Kirli’s persistent denialist endeavors, none of these constructive steps would have been possible!

     

  • Are we really going to hand London to a Labour party that thinks terrorists is its friends?  A passionate plea from ZAC GOLDSMITH

    Are we really going to hand London to a Labour party that thinks terrorists is its friends? A passionate plea from ZAC GOLDSMITH

    7.7busZac Goldsmith published an article on Daily Mail which is a passionate plea from himself four days before the majoral election.

    Here is the article below;

    On Thursday, are we really going to hand the world’s greatest city to a Labour party that thinks terrorists is its friends? A passionate plea from ZAC GOLDSMITH four days before Mayoral election

    London stands on the brink of a catastrophe, the shockwaves from which would be felt across the country. In just four days’ time, voters in the capital could elect Sadiq Khan to succeed Boris Johnson as mayor.

    The greatest city on Earth, which is a global leader in everything from finance to fashion and the seat of the oldest and most respected democracy in the world, would be represented by the man who nominated Jeremy Corbyn for leader of the Labour Party and who has admitted he would do it again.

    London’s £600billion economy would fall into the hands of a man who backed Ken Livingstone over his suspension in 2006 for anti-Semitic remarks to a Jewish reporter.

    It would mean aggressive socialism entering Britain though the back door.

     

    If Khan wins on Thursday, the world’s premier financial centre will be handed to the most hard-Left, intolerant, anti-business Labour Party since the days of Michael Foot. An economy larger than Sweden’s will be run by a party that backs wildcat strikes and flying pickets, wants to turn the clock back to the 1970s, and whose leader has described business as ‘the enemy’.

    Khan has flatly refused to rule out hiking taxes, which would deal a devastating blow to the engine room of the British economy.

    As a beacon of freedom, diversity and prosperity throughout the ages, London will always be in the cross-hairs of pan-European terror movements.

    The number one job of any mayor of London is to keep our city safe.

    Yet if Labour wins on Thursday, we will have handed control of the Met, and with it control over national counter-terrorism policy, to a party whose candidate and current leadership have, whether intentionally or not, repeatedly legitimised those with extremist views.

    Corbyn has described Hamas and Hezbollah as ‘friends’.

    Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell is a self-proclaimed IRA sympathiser.

    And the last Labour mayor, Ken Livingstone, has in the past few days shocked even hardened critics of Labour with grotesque comments about Hitler.

    Until this week, Khan was happy to parade the fact that Livingstone was endorsing him: now he can’t back away fast enough.

    Yet Khan is not running as an independent. He is running as the representative of the most divisive Labour party we’ve seen for a generation. He is running on the back of hard-Left votes he courted in order to win the Labour mayoral selection.

    And he is running with the backing of people like Livingstone, whose offensive views he’s overlooked, time and time again, to further his own career.

    Doing whatever it takes to further his own political interests, of experimenting with his principles, is a defining thread of Sadiq Khan’s record in public life.

    In 2006 he criticised the decision to suspend Livingstone for comparing a journalist to a Nazi concentration camp guard, and as a lawyer Khan tried to get the banned extremist leader Louis Farrakhan – who described Jews as ‘blood-suckers’ and called Hitler ‘a very great man’ – admitted to the UK.

    Khan was recently forced to suspend his aide, Shueb Salar, after The Mail on Sunday revealed that for years he had been making offensive remarks about rape and murder.

    In the pursuit of the mayoralty, Khan has cynically changed his position on virtually every issue.

     

    Until recently he was in favour of developing our precious Green Belt; he is now apparently opposed. He was passionately pro Heathrow expansion; he is now against it. He was pro sanctions against Israel; he is now against. He was pro Labour’s mansion taxes; he now opposes them.

    He says he’ll be a pro business mayor, but has already promised to set up a dedicated union unity team in City Hall if elected, and is pursuing a Corbyn-backed fares policy that TfL has warned will devastate transport investment and cause London to grind to a standstill.

    London’s economy is too big and too important to be a testing ground for a four-year Khan-Corbyn experiment. Five-and-a-half million Londoners rely on it for their jobs and livelihoods.

    The choice facing Londoners on Thursday couldn’t be clearer. You can stand against the risk of an unprincipled politician and the madness of Corbyn’s Labour, and instead choose a mayor who will work with this Government, including holding them to account when necessary, to keep our streets safe, keep London moving and growing, and make this an even greater city.

    I am standing to be mayor for exactly that reason: to take the success we have seen under Boris Johnson and make it work for everyone.

    There is a huge amount that needs to be done and can be done by the right mayor. I’ve delivered day in, day out for my constituents, and was returned with the biggest increased majority of any sitting MP at the last Election – the best reference any politician can ask for. I’ll do the same for London.

    I will work with the Government to build a London that all Britons can be proud of, building 50,000 homes, without trampling on communities or concreting over green space. On my watch, London won’t become a city of empty skyscrapers dumped on reluctant communities. I will build a city rooted in streets and parks and beautiful neighbourhoods, with more homes available for Londoners on average salaries.

    My Action Plan for Greater London will make London the greenest and cleanest city on Earth. As mayor, I’ll clean up our buses, cabs and cars. I’ll get even more people cycling safely. I’ll deliver a clean car revolution, ramp up solar energy and give our green spaces the strongest possible protection. I’ll invest in pocket parks in London’s greyest areas so that everyone has access to the outdoors.

    My number one priority will always be to keep you safe. I will always fight to make sure the police have the resources and tools they need.

    I’ll maintain the Met at its current strength and I’ll put 500 extra officers on the Tube, funded by tackling union perks.

    And when our police are called upon to make split-second decisions, they will always have my backing.

    There is a huge choice at this election: between business backed or business attacked; taxes frozen and taxes hiked; between four years of bickering, blame and gridlock or four years of a mayor who will put people first.

    Just a few thousand votes in each London borough will make the difference.

    London is the greatest city in the greatest country on Earth. If London backs me, it will be greater still.

  • Conservative Friends of Turkey Joined Forces to Back Zac Goldsmith

    Conservative Friends of Turkey Joined Forces to Back Zac Goldsmith

    Zac_goldsmith

    On the 23 April 2016, The Conservative friends of Turkey joined  their forces with Conservative Friends of Eurasia, CLWCA Middle East & North Africa Group, CLWCA Italian Group, CLWCA Germany, Austria & Switzerland Group and Conservative Friends of the Caribbean in a bid to support Conservative Party candidate Zac Goldsmith.

    Rt Hon Mark Field MP, Chairman of the Conservative Party’s International Office, Lord Popat of Harrow and Lee Scott from the BackZac campaign joined the major campaign and made  inspiring speeches.

    The Mayor of London has a range of important responsibilities covering policing, transport, housing, planning, economic development, arts, culture and the environment, controlling a budget of around £17 billion. Mayors are elected for a period of four years, with no term limits.

    The London mayoral election for 2016 will be held on 5 May 2016 to elect the Mayor of London, on the same day as the London Assembly election.